“This is nice.” She rolled her head to the side and peeked up at me. “I’m not used to this side of you.”
“You said it best with your paintings. The Devil has many faces.”
“I like this one.” She smiled. “I’m getting ideas for another Devil-inspired painting.”
“You can’t deny how you feel about me. It’s in every one of your paintings.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Who says the Devils are you?”
“We both know they are, Queen D.” I dipped my head down and kissed her cheek. “I consume your dreams and your nightmares.”
“I loved painting you when we were younger.” She closed her eyes and rested her head on my shoulder. “You’re beautiful, the perfect subject. Perfect bone structure. Symmetrical. How could I not paint you?”
“But as the years passed, your Devils became more aggressive-looking, violent, and angry.”
“Because you changed. Art tells the truth…”
“Even when people tell lies,” I finished for her, a direct quote from my mother and one of her most popular paintings.
“I’d like to resume my work at the Franco Foundation.”
I sucked her earlobe into my mouth. “Consider it done.”
Alex moaned. “Mmm… That feels good.”
I threw the empty champagne bottle on the sand, then rubbed her shoulders.
Alex closed her eyes and moaned. “You have your moments, Luca. This is one of them.”
After we finished the second bottle of champagne, we stood at the edge of the water. The warm water brushed our toes. I lifted my shirt over my head and dropped it onto the sand. Alex turned to face me, taking in the sight of me shirtless. Her tongue slid across her bottom lip.
“See something you like?”
Alex laughed. “Who says I like you?”
“Baby, we both know you do. You’ve always run from me, but you can never hide. I know you inside and out.”
“As I said, you have your moments.”
She traced her fingers over the scars on my chest, sliding her hands up to my shoulders. Only Alex touched my scars. Much like her, they were a part of me. A part I would never hide from her.
Her fingers glided over my shoulders, trailing down my back to the worst ones. When I was younger and displeased him, my father made me kneel in front of him with his belt wrapped around his fist. Sometimes he hit me to show me his power, his strength. To remind me, I belonged to him.
We all bore different scars, various reminders of the man who taught us the value of cruelty. How to wield it, how to use it as a weapon. I understood pain, punishment, and torture. Without those lessons, I would have become a different man.
Alex resumed her careful appraisal of my chest. Her feather-light touch made my cock rock hard when the tip of her tongue rolled over my nipple.
I groaned in response.
“You’ve always liked that.”
Her lips moved down my chest as she flicked open the button on my shorts. She dropped to her knees in front of me, sliding down the zipper as she looked up at me. I shoved my shorts over my hips and stepped out of them. Alex leaned forward with a hungry look in her eyes, fisting the base of my cock as she licked the tip. The heat from her mouth made my balls tighten.
Tonight, I wanted to take my time with her. We had privacy out here. I had instructed the guards not to bother us or pay attention to anything they saw on the security feeds. The closest mansion was Wellington Manor, which was at the end of the block.
“Swim with me.” I grabbed her by the arms and helped her up from the sand. “We haven’t done this in years.”
She stripped off her jacket and shirt. I stared at her naked breasts, then rubbed her nipples, massaging the tiny buds. Alex moaned, her chest rising and falling with each breath. I shoved her pajama bottoms down her thighs.
Beautiful and naked, she spun around and slid her hair off her shoulder. “Take off my necklace. I don’t want to ruin it.”
I undid the clasp and set the necklace on the blanket. We walked side by side into the water. The sand crunched beneath my feet and slid between my toes. Alex squealed, then jumped, yelling that she stepped on a crab. Without hesitation, I lifted her into my arms and carried her deeper into the water.
Some nights, I stood out here to gain some clarity. Other nights, I washed the blood of my enemies into the bay. This spot held both good and bad memories. Alex glanced over my shoulder, her eyes on the spot where I kissed her for the first time.
She squeezed her legs around me as the waist-deep water splashed her back. Resting her head on my shoulder, she rocked her hips into my erection. The head of my cock rubbed against her clit, and she let out a soft moan.